Vice President Mike Pence has come under fire for reportedly using a private email account for government business during his tenure as Indiana governor, which was hacked in June.
A number of the emails exchanged from his personal AOL account contained sensitive information relating to homeland security, according to the IndyStar.
Pence used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, his office acknowledged in a statement Thursday.
“Similar to previous governors, during his time as Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence maintained a state email account and a personal email account. As Governor, Mr. Pence fully complied with Indiana law regarding email use and retention,” Pence’s office said in a statement. “Government emails involving his state and personal accounts are being archived by the state consistent with Indiana law, and are being managed according to Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act.”
Under Indiana state law, public officials are not prohibited from using personal email accounts, but are encouraged to preserve the exchanges for transparency reasons.
Pence repeatedly criticized former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while handling classified information.
Comparisons of Clinton and Pence are not valid, Pence Press Secretary Marc Lotter told Politico, since the vice president did not hold a security clearance during his time as governor.
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